


For Better or Worse

by Sinesthero



Series: Titans of Industry [16]
Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 04:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6785182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinesthero/pseuds/Sinesthero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys and Vaughn are touring one of their Atlas facilities when an act of violence shakes up their world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Better or Worse

**Author's Note:**

> There is an act of violence in this story, but it is not very graphically depicted. Still, if this sort of thing bothers you please avoid. Blood is mentioned.

Later, neither man would be able to recall what they were arguing about. It was about something inconsequential, but both men had become heated with the certainty of the righteousness of their own point of view. That much, at least, was remembered. They were long past cordial to each other, through the point of tense, and well into outright pissy. 

They walked side by side on a pathway linking two buildings of the Atlas Facility in New Haven. They were on one of their periodic tours of the Atlas settlements and compounds scattered across Pandora. 

The age of forty two suited Rhys very well, even if the man himself would not have agreed with that statement. He was eternally plucking silver hairs that had started to come in at his temples in the past couple of years. There was something still youthful about his face, even as faint lines were appearing at the outer corner of his eyes. 

The CEO was dressed in a suit of shining silver cloth embroidered with pale, golden thread in a tessellated pattern of octagons and diamonds, precise and geometric. The waistcoat beneath was its inverse, all pale golden with the same pattern as the jacket in silver. A dark gray dress shirt and golden tie completed the look.

Like all of his suits these days, Rhys’ right sleeve was entirely missing other than a small cuff at the shoulder that covered over the seam between his flesh and the metal. Though he mourned the loss of symmetry to his look, his experiments with snaps and closures to allow the easy removal of his sleeve were not satisfactory. When one’s primary armament was a laser gun that stayed stored in their forearm on a planet as dangerous as Pandora, it was safer this way.

Rhys’ most recent Echo Eye upgrade had left him with an inhumanly silver colored Iris that Vaughn had immediately dismissed as ‘Too Supervillainy.’ Rhys liked it, however, and had no intentions of changing it any time soon. His arm remained silver.

Vaughn walked along at his right side. The Chief Financial Officer of Atlas was dressed in one of his suits of charcoal grey cloth, enlivened only a colorful blue waistcoat with a dizzying fractal pattern in shades of yellow and gold, spiraling endlessly. His bow tie matched his husband’s in its pale yellow color. The dress shirt was made of a dilute slate gray fabric. 

Vaughn had been going grey in the beard for several years now, though his hair was mostly holding out in its dark brown. It was still long and he was inclined to wear it in a braid as often as he was in a bun. 

Of everything he wore on his body, nothing was more important to Vaughn then his glasses. 

On the occasion of the CFO’s 38th Birthday, Rhys had hand picked and allocated a design team to create them to suit the money man’s whims and specifications. This pair was one of very few of a kind that Vaughn possessed, each one designed to be only able to be used by him and him alone. 

They were a marvel. A simpler version was put on the market that continued to sell briskly to the current day, but they had nothing on the original. The rectangular lenses were set in sturdy black rims and boasted an array of options for access to his files and accounts. The lenses had the capability to change colors to suit his needs. With the sun being so relentless, the lenses were currently darkened down to an inky black that allowed no view of his eyes.  

Though they provided him no where near the capabilities of his cybernetic enhanced spouse, they helped keep Vaughn connected to all his interests. 

“Vaughn?“ Rhys squinted suspiciously and spoke with a snappish voice filled with anger, “Are you looking at the Echo Net while I’m talking to you? Because you know that’s… just… rude!” 

“You’ve made up your mind. I don’t care to argue. I have _ officially  _ moved on,” was Vaughn’s airy reply. He looked away from Rhys quite pointedly.

“That’s not an answer to my question,” Rhys stopped walking. 

Vaughn groaned and said, “I’m not ignoring you, I’m done arguing. You’re tired… We’ve had a long day… why don’t you go take a nap or something. You’re cranky.” 

“I don’t need a nap.” Rhys glowered. “I need a husband who will pay attention to me when I need it.”

“Then coffee, maybe? You need something.” Vaughn was plainly dismissive, “Or maybe I need the nap.” He shrugged. “But now that you mention it, There’s something I should check.” He stopped walking a moment and touched a finger to the side of the earpiece, tuning out his husband for the moment to take a quick look into his virtual inbox to see if anything crucial had made it through his filters.

Rhys angrily drifted on ahead several steps. “ _ Fine _ . I’m going to find the bar. If I need anything it’s a drink.” 

Vaughn rolled his eyes though it could not be seen. “Alright… I’ll see you in a bit… I need to respond to this. I think I’m going to head back to our room.  _ Please  _ don't get drunk, dearest.” 

Rhys’ response was only to say in shock, “What the hell?” Everything was suddenly so loud. 

The next thing Vaughn knew he was on his back on the ground, his glasses blown off of his face. There was no sound other than a high pitched ringing that seemed to drone on in metallic endlessness. 

He sat up, dazed, to find people running towards him. The sunlight seemed extra bright for the loss of the protection of the sunglasses. When his eyes adjusted he saw his husband on the ground, laying on his back with his left leg missing above the knee. Where the limb had actually gone was not readily apparent. There was blood all over the pavement.

There were hands on him, hurrying him to his feet. They tried to tug him away from the chaos. He was dimly aware of shots being fired, but he broke free from the arms that tried to drag him and ran to his downed spouse. Mr. Rao, one, one of Rhys’ personal bodyguards, was standing over him, weapon drawn.

Rhys was not the only one down. There were at least three other bodies Vaughn could see in the area, but he did not have time for any of them. Only Rhys. 

Before he could even pull off his belt to make a tourniquet to stop that deadly bleeding, he felt himself grabbed around the middle again and forcibly hauled to his feet. He was pulled off of them entirely. Though he was screaming his husband’s name at the top of his lungs, he could barely hear himself over the oppressive metallic ringing. 

The last thing he saw before he was carried into the nearest building was a pair of Atlas military medics crouching over Rhys with a Med Hypo before loading him on to a stretcher. He screamed  and fought against the arms holding him, but it was useless. 

He was carried, screaming and struggling all the way, much further into the building and shoved down into a seat in a small office. 

Vaughn could see now it was his own Guard, Pearson, who had carried him and now held him down by his shoulders to keep him seated. 

A dark-skinned woman in a white coat with a large syringe abruptly stabbed him through two layers of clothing with an enormous needle. Within moments he felt a terrible, painful popping sensation in his ears before the ringing finally stopped and his normal hearing started to function again.

The bodyguard kept him firmly rooted to the chair by his shoulders. “Mr. Atlas… Mr. Atlas, please calm down… we need to make sure you’re okay.” 

“Fuck me, Where’s  _ Rhys _ ?! Where’s _ my husband _ ?!” he shouted. 

The woman in the white coat spoke tried to speak calmly, “Mr. Atlas is being moved somewhere safe. Please be patient until we can make sure the threat is past.” 

“What the fuck happened! This was supposed to be a secure facility, dammit! Get your hands off me, Pearson!” His eyes narrowed dangerously at the larger man.   

Pearson was a giant bear of a man, standing at well over six and a half feet and seemingly made of solid muscle. Sandy blond hair was worn short and he kept a trimmed goatee. As strong as Vaughn may have been, he was little match for his imposing body guard.  “Please, Sir… just let the doc check you out and I will take you to him as soon as it's clear.”

“Take me to him NOW.” Vaughn raged. Though he never cared for yes men, these days he was unused to his commands not being immediately followed. 

“Sir,” the man looked pained, “I am just following my orders.  _ Please _ do not make this difficult.”

“Your  _ orders _ come from  _ me _ ! And this is one of them! Let me up!” Vaughn was never this short with his underlings. In fact, he had on several occasions taken his husband aside and reprimanded him for taking on what he called a ‘Handsome Jack-like’ approach to management. 

Pearson looked uncharacteristically miserable and spoke as though he were admitting a terrible crime, “Actually, Sir. Mr. Atlas established a protocol for me to follow in the event of an attack.”

Vaughn was gob smacked to find that his own guard had secret orders from his damnably sneaky spouse. There was no use in fighting so he snarled uselessly, “Oh, that is _ JUST GREAT _ .” He growled at the medic, “Hurry, up, damn you.” 

Pearson released Vaughn and stepped away from him. With a finger to his ear he said, “What’s the sitrep?” 

The black haired, tawny skinned doctor set aside the spent needle and moved to help Vaughn get his suit coat off.  He followed the woman’s every request quickly, knowing that compliance would get him quicker to his goal. She wanted to look into his eyes, to listen to his heart, and to palpate his limbs. 

Though he cooperated, he kept up that fury in his gut. If he let go of that, he was afraid of what despair he might sink into. His mind’s eye could only see his beloved with his missing limb and all of that blood covering that beautiful silver fabric. 

“I copy that,” Pearson said solemnly. “Mr. Atlas… the other… Mr. Atlas… has been stabilized and they’ve taken him to the medical building for surgery. We have reports of two assailants, though I am afraid both of them were Atlas Employees and both are down. That’s all we know right now. I’m waiting on clearance from Rao to escort you to him.”

“Fucking Rhys,” Vaughn wanted to rage and rant and make threats upon Pearson and his job security, but in the end he deemed that beneath his dignity. The man was just doing the job he was told to do. His anger was impotent in the face of his towering protector. He silently let the doctor finish up while he waited for the clearance to come. When she was done he slumped forward and put his face in his hands which were in turn propped up with his elbows against his knees. Looking back up he said, “Coordinate with the Captain. This building and this facility are on lockdown. I want reports from the other facilities at once. High alert across all bases, settlements, and outposts.”

Pearson obediently started to make the necessary calls.

Thirty excruciating minutes later the bodyguard said, “Copy that…” to his counterpart on the other line. “Mr. Atlas… we’re ready to move.” 

Vaughn got to his feet quickly, “Let’s go…” The doctor held out his suit coat to help him put it on but he just snatched it from her hands and hurried close to his body guard. Soon they were in a stairwell and heading down through the underground tunnels that also connected the buildings. 

Bitterly, he contemplated that if they had just used this system and not trusted the outside security than they would not be in this situation right now. However, if the assailants were Atlas employees it may only have been a matter of time until something happened. 

They passed through a pair of underground security checkpoints and climbed two flights of stairs in the medical building. They came close to the surgery center, they were met by a doctor in a bloodied lab coat. “Mr. Atlas…” 

“Where’s Rhys?” he demanded. 

This doctor was a tall, thin man with pallid skin and large, watery gray eyes. “We are still running diagnostics we fear he may have a blast injury to his lungs… and… I regret that we were unable to save the leg…” 

Vaughn had already accepted that possibility, “I  _ need _ to see him.” 

“It would be best if you left him to rest. He is not even conscious yet…” 

Vaughn drew himself up to his full height and said, “Look… I don’t want to be that guy, but I am ultimately in charge of the payment over the salaries of  _ everyone _ here. I am second in command of this entire company and with  _ him _ incapacitated  _ I am in charge _ .  I don’t care if you need me to scrub in but you  _ will _ take me to him  _ right  _ now. I am  _ not _ going to repeat myself.” Never once did his raise his voice. 

The doctor seemed to take his meaning and gestured him through a door to the recovery area off from the main surgical station.

Pearson followed close behind like a large, protective shadow. 

The doctor added as they walked, “We also took the precaution of removing all his cyber ware. It was damaged by the blast and we did not want to take the risk of any additional harm to his brain.” 

“Additional?” Vaughn’s throat went tight. 

“It’s very early Mr. Atlas… as I said we are still running diagnostics. You may see him for a few minutes, then we really must take him to run more scans.” 

“Wait outside, Pearson…” Vaughn said solemnly as they reached the door to Rhys’ room. 

It was like something out of a nightmare. Rhys was laid out on a medical bed, intubated through his mouth with a hose that ran to a respirator. His intact leg was covered by a sheet, but the one that ended now at the bottom of his thigh was left exposed but for the copious amounts of bandaging that covered it. The silver arm was merely detached though it was nowhere to be seen. Bandages covered his left eye and accompanying temple port. 

“Oh baby,” Vaughn whispered, shocked, as he moved closer to the bed. There was weakness in his knees to see his husband in such a sad condition. Guilt flooded his mind as he the intrusive thought blossomed that this might not have happened if he had been closer to his spouse and paying more attention.

Rao stood in the corner of the room, looking stricken at his perceived failure to protect his employer from these ravages. A good looking man with skin the color of terracotta and thick, curling black hair worn at medium length, he dipped his head and said in a strained voice, “Mr. Atlas… I am so sorry. I failed him.” 

With a shake of his head, his eyes focused on his husband, Vaughn said, “It’s not your fault, Kiran.” He reached out and laid his hand over Rhys’. Leaning down, he said, “I’m here, Rhys... It’s going to be okay.” 

Rao grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and pushed it up behind Vaughn.

He turned and nodded before taking the offered chair and scooted it closer to the bedside. His fingers stroked up and down Rhys’ hand as the machine kicked on and off; filling the CEO’s lungs with air before he exhaled. “I swear on everything… whoever did this to you… they’re going to pay. They’re going to regret the day they hurt you.” 

It was soon, too soon, that a group of attendants stepped into the room. The same doctor from before was at the head of them, “We need to take him for those scans now. Mr. Atlas, please go to the waiting area. We will let you know as soon as you can see him again.”

Vaughn heaved an enormous sigh. Raising Rhys’ hand to his lips he kissed it gently and stood. “Mr. Rao will stay with him. He needs to be guarded at all times.” 

“Yes Sir.” The doctor relented, at least, at that. The bodyguard would not interfere in the same way a spouse might. 

Vaughn gave Rhys one last look before stepping out of the room and into the antechamber sitting room. There was a long padded bench in the waiting area and he laid down on it on his back, staring up at the ceiling, his mind full of dread.

The day was to get worse. After briefly leaving the room, Pearson burst into the waiting room, “Sir we’ve reports of attacks on the Hollow Point and Helios compounds.” 

Vaughn sat up immediately, “Oh… no… no no no.” 

“The Helios attack has been thwarted with the help of the moon beam. Gortys and Loader Bot are safe...but there are casualties,” Pearson continued, looking somewhat shaken. 

“Son of a bitch!”  Vaughn shook his head, his heart starting to pound hard again, “Keep me updated on Hollow Point. Dammit, Where’s my assistant? Send him here… And Rhys’... and I need a data pad.” Vaughn got up and started to pace as Pearson stepped a few feet away to start making calls. “Who is it… Who is against us?” Though he asked, it was only for confirmation. Deep down, he already knew. 

Pearson swallowed hard and said, “It’s Hyperion, sir.” 

The waiting room became a temporary situation room for what Vaughn was prepared to admit now was a corporate war. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Hyperion had been picking itself up and dusting itself off under the auspices of the now reclusive Mr. Blake from their off world holdings. It was certainly of concern to Rhys and had been for some time, though the grip of Atlas on Pandora had been so tight for so long that they had perhaps settled into a deadly sense of complacency. Vaughn prayed the military they had built up in the event of such an attack was worth its muster. 

Two hours passed while tests were ran on Rhys. Vaughn and his underlings were waiting to hear back from August in Hollow Point when the doctor, now changed into a crisp new white coat, appeared from one of the corridors. 

“Mr. Atlas… we have good news to report…” he said with no real expression that there was anything good to report. The man had a good game face. 

Everyone in the group looked up expectantly but none more so than the CFO. 

“Mr. Atlas is resting.” The doctor said. “We have determined that beyond a concussion there is no major brain damage. He is again breathing on his own. We have the capability of installing new cyber ware from our robotics lab, but we will wait on his preferences on that matter.”

“Good.” Vaughn said crisply. He rose with his data pad. “Take me to him… Omar, Acker… message me if there’s any developments. Pearson. Stay here.”  

“Yes, Sir.” Pearson nodded and sat back down. 

When he saw Rhys again he was much as he had been before; in the same room in a bed. The breathing tube was gone but he was hooked up to a number of monitors. The top portion of the bed was bent at a slight incline so he was sitting up just slightly. A gray sheet completely covered both legs and just his single, tattooed arm was resting on top of the sheet which was otherwise pulled up to his neck. 

A surly male nurse with a dark brown crew cut and a stern scowl was in the room keeping an eye on the monitors while Mr. Rao sat in the corner, looking despondent. The latter rose as soon as Vaughn entered the room with proper reverence, “Mr. Atlas.” He bowed his head and moved to push the rooms other chair over so that Vaughn could sit by Rhys. 

The nurse said with a thick Russian accent, “You leave him sleeping. He will wake up when he wakes up.” 

“Of course,” Vaughn, said, annoyed with the obvious instruction. He settled in the chair and covered Rhys’ hand with his while balancing the data pad on his knee. For the moment it was left untouched while he looked over his poor husband. “How am I going to tell you?” he asked, Rhys, vainly. Neither man in the room dared to venture a response. 

The nurse went so far as to clear the room, closing the door behind him. 

“I’m so sorry, baby… I wasn’t paying enough attention. You were right.” The data pad slipped to the floor as Vaughn finally allowed himself to loose some of the composure he had held onto these past three hours. As he held Rhys’ hand he bent forward until his forehead was touching the back of it and allowed himself to let the tears fall.  

Mr. Rao turned away to give the man a modicum of privacy. 

His whispered words became garbled by the fierceness of his tears. He let the luxury of his breakdown be short lived, however. From his pocket he took out his handkerchief and dabbed his eyes when the data pad chimed on the floor. “Mr. Atlas, Sir, I have August on the line. Can I put him through.” 

Vaughn released Rhys’ hand for the moment so he could bend down and pick it up from the floor, “Yes… of course, at once..” He sniffled and swallowed. 

“Hey… Vaughn…” August voice came through the pad. “How’s uh… how’s Rhys, he OK?”

Vaughn swallowed again, uncaring that his voice sounded raw and watery, “They got him good… but he’s going to pull through. Still unconscious… left leg’s… gone.”

“Fuck.” was the stunned reply. 

“What’s going on at Hollow Point?” Vaughn forced the words out. 

“Well…” the former thug’s voice sounded cautious. To be honest, he was still a thug, but he was  _ their _ thug. He was not even officially an Atlas employee, though he had made a great fortune handling the things that Atlas CEO deemed beneath them or otherwise made them uncomfortable. He was still operating out of Hollow Point these days, though he had traded up from the Purple Skag to a suite in the Hollow Point corporate settlement. “The good news is… we fucked up those Hyperion clowns something good… Bad news is… we got a shit ton of casualties. It’s… pretty bad. General McMasterson is dead… Fisher’s taken over command. They took out the production facility. We’re… still clearing through the rubble. But we fuckin’ routed ‘em Vaughn.”  

“God damn it… Thank you August… I…  appreciate you calling me. We need to find where the fuck these bastards are operating out of and crush it. Get your best people on it. I can’t believe we didn’t see this coming.”

“Yeah… It’s a … fuck story, for sure. We got men goin' after ‘em trying to see if we can get the answer to that question.  Look... I gatta lot of things goin’ on here. Keep me posted though when Mr. Ten Million Dollars wakes up.” August sounded grim.

“Sure thing. I’ll be in touch.” Vaughn promised.

“Aight.” August said before hanging up. 

The nurse returned several times over the hour Vaughn spent sending and receiving messages while occasionally speaking softly to his unconscious husband. 

When Rhys’ single eye started to flicker open, Vaughn let the data pad drop from his knee again. 

Vaughn could feel himself holding his breath as he watched his husband. 

Rhys sounded drugged. “... whu… What?” He looked around himself, confused. 

“Darling, I’m here. Rhys. Don’t try to sit up.” Vaughn urged quietly. 

“Where’s my …. Arm?” His voice wavered as his brow furrowed into a mask of fear, “What happened?” 

Vaughn’s Adam's apple bobbed, “There’s been an attack.” He squeezed the hand between both of his, “They’ve removed all you cybernetics. That’s why you can’t see out of your left eye and why you can not access anything.”

Rhys struggled to sit up, his bandaged thigh raising and thumping down again on the bed. 

To nip that in the bud Vaughn got to his feet and carefully put his hands on the other man’s shoulders, “No, baby, lay back… relax… Rao. Get the nurse… Calm down, Rhys.” 

Rao all but sprinted out of the room. 

The lone brown eye looked all around himself, desperate with agony and anxiety, “It hurts… why… does it hurt?” 

With one hand on Rhys’ shoulder and the other smoothing over his hair, Vaughn’s voice was soft, “Shhh shhh shhhh. The doctor will come in, my love… he’ll get you something to stop it from hurting.” 

Rao opened the door again and held it for the doctor and the surly nurse to pass through. The nurse went immediately to Rhys’ IV and injected a syringe into it. The doctor moved to the the side of the bed opposite to Vaughn. 

“Mr. Atlas.” He shined a light into Rhys’ pupil for a moment before continuing, “You’ve been through a traumatic blast injury.” 

Whatever was in the syringe seemed to calm Rhys down and he again sank against the bed. The tight lines in his face smoothed back into a drugged peace.  

“Mr. Atlas… does that feel better?” The doctor questioned succinctly.

“Oh yeah…” Rhys gave a dreamy, dazed sort of smile. “That’s good.” 

“Mr. Atlas… you need to know that you have lost your leg.” The doctor said the words in a manner lacking in the way of sympathy.

Vaughn’s jaw dropped as the man dropped that bomb now in that callous way. 

Rhys looked confused and said, “Oh… Okay. My… my leg?” He looked to Vaughn with such helpless confusion that it broke the other man’s heart. 

“You son of a bitch…” Vaughn said to the doctor before he looked back to Rhys, “We will get you the best prosthetic that money can buy… that we can make. And we’ll upgrade your arm and your eye… It’s going to be okay…” 

Rhys started to pull the sheet up from his leg. Since the doctor already informed him, Vaughn let him pull the sheet back from the bandaged stump at the bottom of his thigh. “Oh…” After a moment he said, softer, “Oh no.” The enormity of the injury seemed to settle on him and his face fell. 

“Just get out.” Vaughn said angrily at the doctor. “Leave us.” 

The doctor obediently turned and left, summoning the nurse to follow him. 

“As soon as we can… we’ll get you home. It’s going to be alright. I am so sorry, baby…” He reached out a hand to stroke Rhys’ hair. 

Rhys’ eyes closed again and in time Vaughn could sense that he had fallen asleep again, most likely due to the influence of the painkiller he was given.

With a sigh, Vaughn picked up the data pad and resumed monitoring the situation for both of them.

In time, food was brought into him, which he was disinclined to eat. He forced himself, though, knowing he would never allow Rhys to avoid eating just because he was upset. With the weight of the entire company riding on his shoulders, it was important that he take care of himself. 

As the evening wore on and it was getting near to time for him to sleep, an orderly brought in a cot to put next to Rhys’ bed so he might close his eyes and rest a while as well. 

Rao had relocated himself to sitting outside the room in front of the door. The room was windowless, and the lights were dimmed a bit to attempt to allow Vaughn to sleep. He could not, though he tried. Laying there, his hand covering Rhys’ his mind raced through a number of wildly disconnected thoughts. 

“Vaughn?” Rhys’ voice sounded weak when he spoke.

Vaughn pushed himself up to a seated position. “Yeah, baby… you need anything... water?” 

“Yeah,” Rhys said quietly. Vaughn wasted no time in shimmying off of the cot and picking up the lidded cup of water with its straw. He pushed the cot back to make space and walked up beside him to hold the straw up to the man’s mouth.

Rhys took a sip and paused to swallow before drinking some more. 

“Are you in pain? Do I need to get the doctor?” Vaughn hovered, uncertainly.

Rhys’ eye closed for a long moment before he admitted, “Yeah… but… I don’t… want anything for the pain. I need… to be briefed. It’s.. Hyperion isn’t it?” Like Vaughn, he already knew the answer but merely waited for confirmation.

With absolute certainty, Vaughn knew his husband was not the anxious wreck he had been after the fall of Helios. Still, it had become an ingrained habit to always try to smooth the path for Rhys and handle things so he would not have to. He insisted, “We don’t need to talk about this now, I have everything under contr-.” 

“Vaughn…  _ please _ .” Rhys said as forcefully as his weakened body would allow him. “Please, just answer me. Don’t try to spare me… not now.” 

Sighing, Vaughn admitted, looking him in the eye, “It is… They hit two of our facilities… our compound… and Hollowpoint. LB and Gortys are okay… but they got us really good in Hollowpoint. I’m  _ handling _ it... right now  _ you _ just need to focus on…” 

Rhys shook his head and interrupted him, “No. I need reports… push the… button on the bed… make it sit up more.” 

There was one last attempt, “I really don’t think that’s...” 

Rhys cut him off again, “Wait and … listen to me. I love you. You know I try to listen to you. To obey you... but this time, Vaughn… this time… you have to let me work. This is our company and I am not going to sit on the sidelines when those sons of  _ bitches _ did  _ this  _ to _ me _ . So you get me Acker and you get me a big fucking mug of coffee… or get out of my way.” 

They stared at each other in silence. Then, with the heaviest of sighs, Vaughn relented. Though he was certain he could continue to press the issue and eventually get his way, the potential cost to Rhys’ sense of self was not worth it. He had to deal with this loss somehow. “Of course. Here…” He snagged the data pad from a nearby table and took one of his husband’s pillows and lay it on his pelvis so that he could easier use the pad one handed. After that he pushed the button to make the bed adjust so he was sitting up straighter. 

Rhys immediately started tapping at the device, his one eye scanning the info brought up while he gritted his teeth together tightly. 

Vaughn covered the screen with his hand, forcing Rhys to look up at him. “I’m here for you… to support you… always. So I’ll get you your assistants and coffee… summon the Captain… I’ll do  _ anything _ you need me to do, but you have to eat food when I bring it and sleep If you’re getting exhausted.” 

Rhys did not need time to debate it. “Deal… I’m… I’m sure you did… everything that needed to be done. I just need to know… you know?” 

“Yeah, baby… I know.” He reached out and wrapped his hand around Rhys’ bicep. “Are you… are you okay?”

Rhys’ lips twisted and he blinked away some useless tears, “No… I’m not… and you aren’t either. But we’re together and that’s going to be enough for now.” 

“Yeah.” Vaughn nodded as tears gathered in the corner of his own eyes. He bent down and they embraced gently, each man taking strength from the other. 

Though he was the one in the bed with over half of one of his long, lanky legs missing, Rhys whispered into Vaughn’s ear, “It’s going to be okay. I’m  _ going _ to be okay… and we’re going to make them pay.”

Vaughn nodded as he pulled away and straightened. “We are. We definitely are. Together.”

“Together,” Rhys agreed.


End file.
